Where Are All My Friends | Discovering Creative Careers with Inspiring Entrepreneurs

Lil Narnia joins us this week to tell his come up story. We get into his early days and inspirations, finding his sound, getting early love from Astari, working with Dylan Brady, and how to stay inspired.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

2:05 - Who you are and what you do?

3:23 - Discovering music and early inspirations

11:50 - Playing in bands and majoring in music

17:15 - Finding his own sound as Lil Narnia

22:10 - The next generation of music

24:10 - Do you produce all of your own music?

28:05 - Having a creative vision for the project and evolving constantly

29:20 - The funny story of how he got the name Lil Narnia

33:15 - Getting early features on Astari

33:30 - Working with Dylan Brady and new inspiration

39:23 - What kept you going when things got hard?

47:30 - What are you currently inspired by?

If you like this one, let us know and share it with a friend! I’m @andrew_ftw and he’s @lilnarnia

Zac Carper is in the band FIDLAR, and is also an incredible producer. This week he joins us to discuss the future of music and what he's currently inspired by. 

We also get into his early days of getting into trouble and growing up in Hawaii, finding music, chasing a dream to become a producer, and the success of FIDLAR. 

He's got a truly amazing story and is just a rad dude in general. I think you'll really like this episode. It's one of my favorites! 

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

2:00 - Who you are and what you do?

5:27 - Growing up in Hawaii and getting into trouble

8:53 - Getting into music and computers at a young age

13:25 - How did you find your first musical influences and inspirations?

16:44 - Moving to California to get out of trouble

18:20 - Interning at Kingsize Soundlabs in LA

20:44 - Meeting Elvis Kuehn and finding punk music at 18

21:50 - Working with Rob Schnapf, learning to produce, and the start of FIDLAR

25:28 - Zac’s answer to “How do you make it in the industry”

26:19 - Rob Schnapf mentoring Zac and pushing him as an artist and producer

29:00 - The growth and success of FIDLAR

33:17 - Zac’s career as a producer

34:56 - Working with Ricky Reed

40:12 - What inspires you currently as a producer?

46:48 - The future of music and pushing boundaries

52:44 - What do you want to work on next as a producer?

55:10 - We’re living in the most exciting time for music

1:00:11 - Advice to the next generation of artists

1:03:58 - An oddly profound perspective on life gained from surfing

If you did like this episode, share it with a friend and subscribe to the podcast. It helps a ton!

Zach Carper - @zacharydoncarper

FIDLAR - @FIDLAR | Spotify

Andrew Cramb - @andrew_ftw

Daniel McCartney is a music agent at UTA and the founder of The Continuance Foundation, a non-profit organization to help touring musicians and artists with mental health. Before that he was an original member in the band Gideon, and toured the world with them.

This week he joins us to tell his story beginning with Gideon then making a huge career pivot and becoming a booking agent. Starting as an assistant and working his way up from the bottom, he’s now having great success at UTA. We also get into a very important discussion on mental health and actionable steps that can be taken to help yourself or others, and what he’s doing with The Continuance Foundation.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

2:15 - Who you are and what you do?

6:50 - Touring in bands is the college of life

8:40 - The early days of Gideon and touring the world

15:25 - The importance of treating people well and having good etiquette on tour

18:44 - Leaving Gideon and becoming a booking agent

21:25 - Keep your head down and work hard

25:29 - Having massive success as an agent, working with Young Thug, Clever, DaniLeigh, Hunny, Phora, Scotty Sire, Arrested Youth, Amber Liu from f(x), and many others

29:25 - What are the differences and challenges in booking so many different genres of music?

33:00 - What should artists be doing right now while they can’t tour?

37:48 - Starting The Continuance Foundation (A non-profit organization that offers counseling and coaching for artists and touring musicians to help with mental health)

44:34 - The importance of mental health. How to take care of yourself and others.

50:23 - Providing actual resources for anyone who needs help

53:58 - Where can people find you and The Continuance Foundation?

Hope this brings some good perspective and value to you. If it does, please share it with a friend! I’m @andrew_ftw and he’s @danielmccartney.

yung van joins us this week to tell his story! He's released music with guardin, powfu, fats'e, thebreathingbackwards and many others. He grew up in a musical family and got into it at an early age himself. Now he's made it a career as an independent artist.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

2:43 - Who you are and what you do

4:50 - Growing up and getting into music

10:46 - What were you like in school?

14:30 - The beginning of Yung Van

17:50 - Early musical inspirations for the project

23:45 - Finding producers to work with (HKFiftyOne & tothegood)

26:45 - Was there an “oh shit” moment when you first made money off of your music?

30:40 - Dropping out of school and doing music full time

33:00 - Starting minivan records

38:10 - What’s next for Yung Van?

43:05 - Advice to your younger self

45:55 - Remembering a dear friend Jonathan

48:09 - Where can people find you?

Hope you enjoyed this one! If you did, share it! I'm @andrew_ftw and he's @yungvan.

This week we talk specifically about singles and albums. How often you should be releasing them, the pros & cons to both, and how you can effectively market them.

The last episode with Josh Epple and Ben Farber did so well, and I wanted to keep the vibe of short “how to” episodes going. If you’re into it, please shoot us a message and let us know! Also let me know other topics you’d like to hear covered. I’m @andrew_ftw, they are @blfarber & @eppelogue

As always thanks for listening!

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

0:55 - Singles Vs. Albums and the benefits of each

2:38 - The benefits of releasing singles

8:50 - When should you release a music video?

10:00 - Focus on what’s working

13:15 - There are no rules or “right way” // Understanding your audience and staying consistent.

16:21 - The benefits of releasing albums

17:55 - Josh explaining albums better than anything in the world

19:52 - When is the right time to release an album?

21:10 - Other creative ways to release music, EPs and more.

22:22 - When and how to “waterfall” singles on Spotify

26:30 - How often should you be releasing singles?

29:20 - Where can people find you?

Evange is an artist manager who owns Alternate Side Management and has a record label with Elektra Music Group called Public Consumption. She's been in the music business for almost 20 years and is an absolute BOSS!

Her come up story has already been told, so we changed it up for this episode and went straight into the good stuff! I pick her brain on very specific questions like how to position yourself as an artist to get a great music manager or record label, how to best release music in 2020 with times changing, and so much more! If you're looking to grow your artist project and get discovered, this is the episode for you!

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

0:43 - Who you are and what you do

3:50 - How to get the attention of a good manager

8:56 - Real steps you can take to get your project noticed

15:08 - You have to put in the work before you get a manager

18:07 - What do managers actually do for artists?

23:12 - Finding ways to make artists more money

27:22 - Evange's goal as a manager

33:56 - How should artists release music in 2020 with times changing?

37:33 - Things don't have to be perfect, but you have to keep putting out content

39:43 - What it means to be an entertainer

42:33 - How Alternate Side stayed proactive during the pandemic

44:16 - The value of professional help

45:45 - The importance of having a personal connection with your artists

49:31 - Where can people find you?

Evange Livanos:

Alternate Side: http://alternatesi.de/

Public Consumption: https://www.publicconsumption.co/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evangerules/

Andrew Cramb:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrew_ftw/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrew_ftw

Website: https://www.whereareallmyfriends.com/

Podcast:

Donate: https://www.whereareallmyfriends.com/donate

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2_TuYF3dJ0rF0L51_0DVaQ?sub_confirmation=1

Website: https://www.whereareallmyfriends.com/

If you liked this episode and found it helpful, the biggest favor you can do is sharing it  on social media and spreading the word! I'm @andrew_ftw and she's @evangerules

Danny Cocke is a very successful composer. He’s had his music in trailers for Spiderman, The Avengers, Star Trek and more. On top of that he’s got a great story. His first band was signed to Linkin Park’s record label and he’s overcome cancer at a very young age! He shares deep details about his entire journey and gives great advice on the importance of perseverance when chasing your passion.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

3:00 - Who you are and what you do

5:47 - What led you to your career in music?

6:24 - Getting signed by Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park

8:25 - Getting diagnosed with cancer

10:24 - Building a studio and starting another band

11:38 - Putting a trailer album out and getting placements in Spiderman, Avengers & Captain America

13:14 - Working with Mike Shinoda and Linkin Park in 2000

20:40 - Writing his first trailer album

22:17 - The War of Art (Going against resistance and doing the work)

23:28 - Beating cancer at 22 and what he learned from it

28:26 - How to overcome any bad situation in life and grow from it

34:49 - How Danny had the best year ever

40:40 - What inspires you currently?

44:27 - Advice to any songwriter (the music comes first)

47:41 - The power of perseverance

48:48 - Highest highs and lowest lows

54:09 - Where can everyone find you?

Hope you enjoyed this one. If you did let us know! I’m @andrew_ftw and he’s @dannycocke

Big Baby Scumbag is an independent rapper based out of Tampa, FL. He's performed with legends like Lil Pump, Smokepurpp, XXXTentacion and Ski Mask the Slump God.

He's released music with Lex Luger, Lil B, Oliver Francis, Meltycanon, lil aaron, and several others. 

This week we sit down with him to hear his story and learn how he got so good at executing a vision and building an incredible brand around his project. We get into his early days before rapping, we talk about incredible memories from playing Rolling Loud and touring with Oliver Francis, and he gives amazing advice to anyone chasing the dream!

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

2:20 - Who you are and what you do

6:40 - Playing early shows with Lil Pump, Smokepurp, XXX and Ski Mask

9:04 - Dropping “Jelly” and playing Rolling Loud

11:36 - The Tampa music scene

17:00 - Going from a fan, to becoming an artist

22:05 - Skinny Scumbag pushing him to start rapping

25:04 - Dropping “The Trenchez” with Lil Xela on Elevator

28:40 - Touring off of one song

29:55 - The payoff of chasing music instead of working random jobs

33:11 - Making music and touring with Oliver Francis

43:27 - Don’t overthink things as an artist

46:38 - The importance of building your brand and how to do it

49:51 - Dropping flexedupshawty.com

51:14 - Dropping Juvenile Hell with Lex Luger

52:35 - Incorporating his favorite cultural influences into all of his music

57:34 - Educating a new generation about past legends

59:28 - Advice to anyone who’s next up

If you like this one, do us a massive favor and share it! I'm @andrew_ftw and he's @bigbabyscumbag

Andy, or thebreathingbackwards is an internet friend of mine and an incredible artist. This week he joins me to tell his story of finding music, learning how to engineer, then committing fully to his solo artist project. He’s early into his career and has already gone on tour with guardin and released music produced by his all time favorite artist - nothing, nowhere. This is a great episode for all aspiring artists and creates. Hope you enjoy!

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

4:53 - Getting into music

11:07 - What moment did you go all in on becoming an artist?

14:40 - Going to school for music engineering

20:42 - Becoming friends with Brody and making music together

22:55 - The magic of writing in person with other artists

26:32 - Releasing the swingsets EP and the inspiration behind it

32:11 - Going on tour with guardin

40:26 - The numbers don’t matter. Do it for the people who love it

41:30 - Advice to a younger version of yourself

45:30 - What’s up next for your artist project?

48:37 - Where can people find you?

If you liked this one, do me a massive favor and share it on social media, then subscribe to the podcast wherever you’re listening. Thank you!

thebreathingbackwards:

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Me:

Instagram

Twitter

YouTube

Website

Support the podcast HERE

Jack Payne is a merchandise manager who has toured the world with some remarkable acts such as Why Don’t We, Sigur Rós, Stormzy, Bring Me The Horizon, PVRIS, Carlos Santana, Foals, Gus Dapperton and many others.

Jack and I have known each other for a very long time. I was with him on one of the first tours he ever did and from there watched him grow to an insane level of success as a merchandise manager. We spent some time reminiscing on the good ole days of touring together, then talked about his journey and the steps he took to become a highly accomplished touring merchandise manager.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

4:13 - Growing up in the UK

6:47 - Jack discovering  Set It Off and alternative music

8:22 - Deciding what to do after graduating

10:45 - Emailing every band  and manager he could find to go on tour

11:44 - Jack and I meeting for the first time, then him coming on tour with Set It Off.

21:25 - Touring with other artists in the UK

23:00 - Working with a YouTuber in Los Angeles

25:35 - The evolution of his career as a merchandise manager

31:29 - Being defeated and not wanting to tour anymore

33:57 - Getting back on the road 

35:05 - The importance of having people that believe in you

39:00 - Leveling up to arenas as a merchandise manager

42:00 - At what point did your style level up so heavily?

45:40 - Writing poetry and self releasing a book

47:32 - Starting a podcast of his own (Behind What You See)

49:20 - Adapting in 2020 while touring isn't happening

51:27 - What do you see for the future of your career?

53:35 - Advice to anyone seeking a career in music as a merchandise manager or other behind the scenes roles

Hope you enjoyed this one! If you did, share it and let us know! I'm @andrew_ftw and he's @itsjackpayne

Support The Podcast HERE